It's like taking a big chunk of information and squeezing it down to its essential elements, leaving out unnecessary details. Think of it like making a "short story" version of a longer one.
Here are some other ways to think about summarizing:
* Condensing: Reducing the size of something while keeping the most important parts.
* Abstracting: Pulling out the main ideas and leaving out the specifics.
* Paraphrasing: Putting information into your own words but keeping the main meaning.
Examples:
* Summarizing a book: You would talk about the main plot points, the characters, and the overall theme, without going into every detail.
* Summarizing a research paper: You would focus on the main findings and conclusions, not the entire methodology or supporting data.
* Summarizing a news article: You would mention the most important events and their implications, not every single detail.